Rating: 
Summary: Still fresh and original
Review: "Animal Crackers" is one of the Marx Brothers stage hits to be transferred to the screen. Groucho is Captain Spaulding, the African explorer, who has just returned from an expedition, and is being held as guest of honour at a welcome back party that a Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont) is hosting. A well known artist will also be present to unveil a painting which won't go according to plan, and of course Chico and Harpo are involved in the chaos.
Although "Animal Crackers" is somewhat shallow in it's storyline, it has more than enough scenes of trademark humour from the brothers to compensate, and is among the best that the Marx's put out. It's also impressive that the film hasn't aged much, given it was made in the early 1930's. It does feel stagy at times, but the Marx's timeless comic style and energy is still fresh after all these years.
Rating: 
Summary: HIGH POINT IN LOW COMEDY
Review: "Africa is God's country,and he can have it."The Marx Brothers had that..je ne sais quoi.Many have tried to tackle their type of comedy,and have failed miserably.Still better than any comic institution performing today.
Rating:
Summary: "Hooray for Captain Spaulding: The African explorer!"
Review: "Did someone call me Schnorer?" "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!"
This great follow-up to "The Cocoanuts" which was filmed, too, in New York, tells of Groucho as Captain Geoffrey Spaulding or Captain Spaulding of Scotland Yard. By the way, when he introduces himself at times he switches the words around. He tells of his misadventures to Margaret Dumont and Chicho, who plays "Sugartime" repeateldy and can't think of the finish, and Harpo who joins in. Zeppo is Groucho's secretary who is left out of the comedy. They work together on the case of mysterious paintings. See this great Marx Brothers classic! It's a must!
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Marx Bros. film
Review: And here's why. The first 10 minutes of this movie leaves me smiling for days. "Hello I must be going"..etc,. Groucho's entrance as Capt. Spaulding in a hysterical parody of musical theater is priceless. His "negotiation " with Chico that immediately follows is equally funny.
Margaret Dumont is perfectly cast as a prim and proper society woman serving as the foil to Groucho's lunacy.
I know that this film usually ranks below some of the later more polished productions that followed but Animal Crackers captures the Marx Bros at their vaudevillian best. It's a movie well worth owning.
Rating:
Summary: Seminal work of (Groucho)MARXISM !
Review: ANIMAL CRACKERS has moments that are hysterically funny. If you love movies;comedy;or enjoy relishing talent of one of the world's greatest wise-ass wits, this is THE work of seminal Groucho Marxism to savor. Along with incomparable razor "dozens" of Julius Henry,there are inane tete a tetes between Chico and Harpo(unmasking "Abie the Fishman"...posing as High Society Poohbah and Art Connoisseur...is side-splitting).Even underrated Zeppo shines as Groucho's Field Secretary(the Letter he transcribes IS the world renowned CAPTAIN SPAULDING Manifesto). Margaret Dumont is typically classy as Groucho's feminine foil and straight-woman. HOORAY FOR CAPTAIN SPAULDING! is,of course,one of cinema's SIGNUM theme songs.(Monty Norman considered jazzing-it for his 007 theme).Many Marxist films are certainly worthy of serious study. But...if you only view one...You Bet Your Life this is the winner!
Rating:
Summary: Hello ! I Must Be Going!
Review: Animal Crackers was the last picture the Marxes filmed on the Astoria Lot in New York (the lot used years later for the filming of the Cosby Show). The later move to Hollywood severed the Marxes' Broadway connection. Both The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers can forever be seen as a cinematic history lesson on the Marx Bros.' New York stage antics and personna! Animal Crackers is more theatrical than cinematic. The plot devices were pretty much commonplace as seen in high society screwball stage comedies of that era, but no one could match the Marxes for their ability to put a personal stamp on the comedy writing of George S. Kaufman. The dialogue is crisp. The music is entertaining. The songs are clever. But accept the fact that you are watching a 'filmed' play, rather than a Hollywood studio feature, and you will enjoy it even more! The best scene is one of the stagiest nonsensical ones...Chico and Harpo, after stealing the painting, try to escape the house through a door but are blocked by a terrible thundershower! Leaving through another exit, it appears sunny and the birds are singing. Chico exclaims "Ah, California!" Thus putting an exclamation point on the coming end to the Marx Bros.' NY film and Broadway stage connection.
Rating:
Summary: Have You Seen Your Marx?
Review: Captain Spaulding`s on the case as he searches for a stolen painting! With non-stop humor,gags,and talk of marraige, this equils up to be one of the looneyest movies EVER!
Rating:
Summary: Excuse me, Mrs. Rittenhouse, but have you lost a fish?
Review: Even more so than THE COCOANUTS, this second Marx Brothers film suffers from extremely stagey cinematography; worse still, the print and sound quality is often quite poor and some of the references (most notably Groucho's take on Eugene O'Neil's "Strange Interlude") are so firmly rooted in place and time that one would need be an adept of arcane trivia to grasp the joke. Even so, ANIMAL CRACKERS remains one of the Marx Brothers' most inspired feats of comic anarchy, setting the brothers loose to wreck havoc on a Long Island society house party, where they waste little time in lampooning social pretensions with incredible precision. Although ingenue Lillian Roth's performance seems stylistically dated, the brothers are extremely well supported by the wonderful Margaret Dumont, and the film abounds in wildly hilarious scenes--most particularly the Bridge party--in which Dumont faces the full brunt of their ribal humor to outrageously funny effect. Other brilliant moments include Groucho's proposals ("Why, that's bigamy!"), Chico's turn at the piano (Chico: "I can't think of the ending." Groucho: "Funny, I can't think of anything else!") and the power failure ("Excuse me, Mrs. Rittenhouse, but have you lost a fish?") All in all, ANIMAL CRACKERS will be a real treat for Marx Brothers fans as well as casual viewers prepared to overlook the film's flaws, and it remains my favorite among their early films.
Rating:
Summary: "well thats bigamy!" "thats big of me too, lets all be big
Review: for a change" Oh boy, this was a very funny movie. It wasn't like some movies where it's only funny through part of the movie, it's full of laughs! I like how Groucho is constantly trying to get Mrs. Ritenhouse to marry him by his sometimes weird flattery : ) I can't explain it. You'll just have to see it for yourself. I've only known one person that didn't enjoy this movie and that was because they didn't get the jokes (but thats typical of a blonde) : ) So, I'll leave you now so you can watch this very funny movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Dated Operetta-Style MarxxBrothers Comedy
Review: Groucho Marx in one of the Marx Brothers' Classics, surrounded by the usual cast of High Society play-alongs, delivers what many consider their very best work. The lunacy begins when Groucho arrives back from an African Exploration, just in time to be the guest of honor at a Society Dinner Party. The craziness is fueled by some twists and turns about a valuable painting (which seems to be easily copied onto what appears like a roll of wall paper). The predictable plot keeps rolling along, while Groucho seems to consume 95% of the scipt with one-liners. In 1930 this may have been a welcome distraction from Depression Era hum-drum life. I tried to find the same amusement a lifetime later, and can't agree with the critics. Aside from a few clever (even risque) jokes, I was missing the rolling-on-the-floor-with-laughter effect. Animal Crackers left me only with luke-warm feelings, while I found the "other" Marx Brothers Classic, "Duck Soup" hilarious. I would rather see "Duck Soup" 5 more times than view "Animal Crackers" ever again. Not a total loss of 1 1/2 time, but don't expect any "mirror scenes", because this one has none!***
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